
Michael McDowell on NASCAR Cup Blow as Wreck Ruined Texas Race
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Michael McDowell came agonizingly close to securing his first victory of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season at Texas Motor Speedway yesterday. However, a late-race wreck ended his hopes of celebrating in Victory Lane.
The Spire Motorsports driver had taken the lead at the restart on lap 244, after pitting on lap 222 for a two-tire stop meaning he was able to take advantage of the fresh rubber. But, after dropping back to third position behind Team Penske drivers Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney, McDowell lost the rear of the car, causing him to spin and crash into the barriers.
MCDOWELL INTO THE WALL!
The late-race drama continues! pic.twitter.com/TOcqSaXrah — NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 4, 2025
While speaking to the media after the race, the driver of the Spire Motorsports No. 71 Chevrolet ZL1 explained:
"I just really hate it for everyone on this No. 71 Chevrolet. We were giving it everything, we had there to try to keep track position.
Michael McDowell, driver of the #71 Delaware Life Chevrolet, looks on during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Würth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on May 03, 2025 in Fort Worth, Texas.
Michael McDowell, driver of the #71 Delaware Life Chevrolet, looks on during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Würth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on May 03, 2025 in Fort Worth, Texas."Joey [Logano] got a run there, and I tried to block it. I went as far as I think you could probably go.
"When [Ryan] Blaney slid up in front of me, it just took the air off of it and I just lost the back of it. I still had the fight in me, but I probably should have conceded at that point.
"But I'm just proud of everyone at Spire Motorsports. I know that's not the day we wanted, but we had an opportunity to win the race.
"I'm really proud of everyone at the Hendrick Motorsports engine shop – you guys saw those restarts, the motors were ripping. Just hate that we didn't get it done, but we knew we had to go for it. We went for it and it didn't work out."
Logano went on to take the victory, followed by Ross Chastain and Ryan Blaney in second and third, respectively.
NASCAR Cup Series at Texas Motor Speedway race results
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
91 days until the Texans' 2025 season opener: Who has worn No. 91?
91 days until the Texans' 2025 season opener: Who has worn No. 91? Who has worn No. 91 since 2002? The Houston Texans are less than 100 days away from kicking off the 2025 season in Los Angeles against the Rams at SoFi Stadium and we're counting down the days until a victory ensues on the west coast. Texans Wire will each day tell you which player has worn the number of the day leading up to kickoff and pick the player who ensured the number best during their time at NRG Stadium. As for today, let's take a look at who has won No. 91 since the inaugural season in 2002. Texans players to wear No. 91 No. 91 currently belongs to Folorunso Fatukasi, who returned to Houston on a one-year deal earlier this offseason. He was Houston's best interior run defender for a unit that finished top 10 in run defense en route to another AFC South division title. He's been a solid depth piece since joining the Texans in 2024, recording 24 tackles and one sack last season. Is Fatukasi the best player to wear No. 91? The list isn't filled with many faces of the franchise-type players, so come back after this season to find out how well he improves to compete for that title. DL Foley Fatukasi (2024-present) DL Hassan Ridgeway(2023) DL Roy Lopez (2021-2022) DE Carlos Watkins (2017-2020) DE Devon Still (2016) LB Jason Ankrah (2014) DE Ricky Sapp (2013) NT Ra'Shon Harris (2011-2012) DT Amobi Akoye (2007-2010) DL Seth Payne (2002-2006) Best Player: Seth Payne Akoye had a case for the title since he was a first-round pick, but he was also expected to become a staple for the franchise as the youngest player ever drafted in the first round. He finished with 10 sacks in four years while Payne, a first-round pick in the expansion draft of 2002, had 9.5 after a promising stint as a rotational player in Jacksonville. As the eighth overall pick in the expansion draft, Payne finally had his chance to start. Over four seasons, he started 46 games, helping Houston become a franchise on the come-up. That has to carry some weight , right?
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Michigan delivers another heartbreaking finish for Carson Hocevar
BROOKLYN, Mich. —While other drivers climbed from their cars after Sunday's 400-mile race at Michigan International Speedway, Carson Hocevar sat in his vehicle on pit road. When he finally emerged from his No. 77 Chevrolet, Hocevar walked around the car and briefly looked off to the distance toward Denny Hamlin's victory celebration. It was another gut punch for the 22-year-old Michigan native. Advertisement The caution Hocevar needed to stretch fuel to the end of the race never came and a flat tire forced him to pit from the lead 19 laps from the finish. The result was a 29th-place finish that most will forget but not Hocevar. 'It's just like (reliving) the Truck days,' Hocevar said on pit road. 'But you're doing it in front of a big stage. The difference is I felt like I was throwing them away. Now, they're getting taken away … things out of our control.' NASCAR: NASCAR Cup Series Race at Michigan Denny Hamlin wins fuel-mileage battle at Michigan International Speedway The Joe Gibbs Racing star took the lead from William Byron on Lap 197 of 200. Advertisement While Hocevar seems poised to score his first Cup career win, heartbreak has hounded him this season. Sunday just added to a growing list. Consider: His engine blew while he ran second in the final stage of last month's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. At Texas last month, he pitted from sixth in the final stage. The caution came two laps later, putting him a lap down and forcing him to take a wave around to get back on the lead lap. If he had pitted a lap later, he likely would have been in a prime spot to win. Instead, he finished 24th. At Bristol in April, he was running third when his team had a 22-second pit stop, ending any chance at victory. Hocevar finished 11th. Advertisement That doesn't include last week's runner-up finish at Nashville that was clouded by his controversial contact that wrecked Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and led to the drivers and their crew chiefs having conversations during the week. Alex Bowman Michigan Alex Bowman on Michigan crash: 'That hurt a lot' Alex Bowman walked away from a vicious crash in Sunday's crash at Michigan. Sunday's pain was evident in Hocevar's downbeat voice on the radio after the race when he told the team in a soft voice: 'Good job everybody.' Crew chief Luke Lambert quickly added: 'Great work guys. I know that's heartbreaking. Great work. We're putting ourselves in position. We'll keep working. We'll get us there. We'll get us one soon.' Advertisement Lifting up the team becomes one of Lambert's key roles right now. 'It's hard on all of us,' Lambert said of the recent disappointments. 'We got to just step back a little bit and look at here we are … running constantly in the top three. That in it of itself is an accomplishment. If we keep doing that, our day is coming.' Hamlin agrees. NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 Denny Hamlin is back to being the villain, provoking Michigan crowd after win Denny Hamlin told fans he beat their favorite driver and did part of an Ohio State cheer in front a crowd that featured many University of Michigan fans. 'You can't run as fast as he's running, being up front as much as he's up front, without eventually winning,' Hamlin said. 'I know that panic sometimes can set in. It's like, 'God, we lost this opportunity.' Advertisement 'But he's with a team that is on the rise. He is on the rise. It's just a matter of time. None of us would be shocked if it's next week or a month from now or whenever it is. 'I certainly give him his fair share of (grief) on Mondays on my podcast, but that doesn't mean that I don't respect his talent. 'Absolutely just a superstar when it comes to actual raw talent. When he figures out how to harness that, pick and choose the moments where he is aggressive, he's going to put it all together and just be the next whoever. There's five to six elite drivers in this field. He can be one of those five or six very easily when he puts it all together.'


Fox Sports
3 hours ago
- Fox Sports
Denny Hamlin wins Michigan, taunts crowd while awaiting third child
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Denny Hamlin could feel nerves during the race Sunday at Michigan International Speedway. His fiancée, Jordan Fish, was six days past due with their third child and Hamlin and his team had decided if they got past Lap 50 of the 200-lap race, he wouldn't be told if she went into labor. Things worked out for Hamlin. He won at Michigan and 90 minutes after the race, was still at the track doing media. He talked about why he needs to be at the birth, baby names … and fierce taunts of the crowd in Michigan. That's Hamlin, living amid chaos and then creating even more for himself. "I don't want to be so ho-hum with winning that it's boring because then I lose my drive," Hamlin said. Hamlin, who has a group of friends who are Ohio State fans, gave the "O" sign to the Michigan crowd and resurrected his line that he told his father he wouldn't use anymore as he crowed to the crowd: "I beat your favorite driver." The boos reigned and Hamlin chuckled. "I do thrive on it just simply because you feel like you've got 60,000 people that are rooting against you," Hamlin said. "When you have that, it just feels really, really good and gratifying to prove them wrong. "I love that feeling." Hamlin had spent Saturday night in Michigan as Fish had not had any labor symptoms. Fish posted an Instagram story late in the race that she was at home. "I felt decent enough about it," Hamlin said. "We had to set some sort of cutoff of whether I was going to finish or not. "So I was very nervous last night and then this morning to getting the call because I knew I had a race-winning car after yesterday." Hamlin is known to run well, even with outside distractions. And he has the additional drama of the race team he owns (but doesn't drive for) 23XI Racing embroiled in a lawsuit against NASCAR. Earlier in the week, the team was dealt a blow in the U.S Court of Appeals and faces the prospect of the 23XI Racing cars not being chartered in a few weeks. It seems that he has been able to focus when he's at the track since that lawsuit was filed last October. The worries about missing the birth of his child, though, seemed to weigh on him more. With JGR simulator driver Ryan Truex at the track, in case he needed to leave, Hamlin knew the team was prepared for him to leave if Fish went into labor. He knew he had a strong car and had a good feeling about the race. Granted, Hamlin didn't have the fastest car. Chris Buescher probably did, but his car wiggled as he tried to run down the leaders late in the race. This cost him valuable momentum and he ended up coming across the line a second after Hamlin. \ William Byron had a strong car, but like many others, he had to save gas near the end, relinquishing the lead with less than four laps to go and then running out with a little over a lap remaining. Hamlin's team made sure he had enough fuel on the final stop to be on the attack at the end. And he executed flawlessly to the finish. And his wife was still at home, posting on Instagram near the end of the race. "I was a little nervous just because we put the Lap 50 cutoff," Hamlin said. "If it happens before Lap 50, I just go ahead and get out, just because of the time. "If it was after, I thought that by the time she gets her s--- together and gets to the hospital, all that stuff? You just never how it all turns out. But I think I can make it, as long as I had a three-hour window." It marked the third win of the year for Hamlin and his 57th career victory in his 701st start. Now it's on to Mexico City, and Hamlin indicated he would be willing to stay home if Fish has not given birth by the weekend. Obviously, it is a much longer flight from there than it would have been from Michigan to his North Carolina home. NASCAR would grant Hamlin a waiver to miss a race and consider it for medical reasons, meaning he would still make the playoffs and get to keep playoff points earned during the season. "It's the bigger picture. You never know when you'll ever have another one," Hamlin said about wanting to be home for the birth of the child. "You may not. I've been really supportive of her, the way that she wants to have this play out, which is as natural as possible. "Everyone asks, 'Why don't you just schedule, schedule, schedule?' I don't know. You've just got to let her decide in these situations. If it causes me to miss a race, it's one of 701 races that I missed and it's just not that big of a deal." His team owner, Heather Gibbs, when asked earlier about whether she was nervous for Hamlin, quipped: "It's funny, because I have four [children]. They [husbands] don't really do anything. When he gets home, he'll be home. It was good." Hamlin's response: "Well, that is true. I've been in the room before, and she needs something really hard to grab onto, and my hand is perfect for it. I'm definitely going to be there this week — hopefully — to hold her hand." The same could have been said for the way Hamlin grabbed the lead just when he needed to and held on for the victory. "He kind of thrives in chaos, right?" Heather Gibbs said. "It was true, we wanted to get him in the car. ... He's as cool as they come, that's for sure." Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! recommended Get more from NASCAR Cup Series Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more